We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Peter Eneji. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Peter below.

Peter , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I’d always loved drawing from as early as 8 years old, it was more like a competition amongst my childhood peers. There was one of us who was so good I admired his skillfulness, he sparked my drive to better my ability to draw – prompting me to draw on practically anything and with any object that’s capable of leaving a mark on a surface; I’d even draw on the floor with a broomstick after it rains. However, the event that sparked the drive towards becoming a professional artist happened in my early teenage years, my secondary school went for an excursion to the Council for arts and Culture in Abuja, and I interfaced with artists like the renowned Nigerian artists like Pa Bruce Onobrakpeya, Lamidi Fakeye of blessed memory and other younger generation of artists working in the studios within the facility also, getting to see real artworks for the very first time in my life; that was when I knew that this would not be merely a childhood obsession but a lifelong commitment

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Peter Eneji, I was born in Lagos on the 25th of September 1991. just before I could get entangled with the bustling maze characteristic of Lagos life, my parents relocated to Abuja just over a year after my birth.

The first sparks of my creative journey came as a result of sheer juvenile curiosity and adventure. I, whether by way of divine orchestration or fate wound up with a group of peers who shared similar fascination with drawing and we subconsciously raced ourselves down the tracks of draftsmanship mastery. However the event that locked in on my resolve to becoming an artist was an excursion to the FCT council for arts and Culture in Abuja. This all important visit afforded me my first encounter with real life, practicing artists like; professor Bruce Onobrakpeya and Mr Lamidi Fakeye, foremost Nigerian contemporary artists; I was only 12 at that eventful convergence and their individually dynamic mastery of mediums left an insignia in my teenage mind the one that opened me up to a vision far greater than what I had earlier conceived.
I would later enroll into the Cross River University of technology in Calabar, where I studied painting in the visual arts department. Furthermore I had a six months long intensive internship program at the University studios of Arts, Lagos, to get a foretaste of the real art world before my exodus from the four walls of the university in my penultimate year. While there, I was privileged to be mentored by ace Nigerian artists Abiodun Olaku, Wallace Ejoh, Joshua Nmesirionye amongst others

As an artist, I see myself as an emissary of the soul, the untapped beauties locked up within its walls, the simple yet complex nature of finding oneself and how each art piece inches me closer in that voyage of self discovery. My goal for creating art has always been to unravel the disparities in my personality, and finding meaning in life’s jigsaw puzzle. I don’t merely paint for fun or aesthetics, I paint as a messenger, as a lover, as a human, as a dreamer, as a child; learning a new language- the mother tongue of the human spirit; because what we are all here for is to find our individual paths and make our lives count. Painting happens to be the vocabulary my soul uses to tell its story, perhaps the world will hear me.
Before an artist can truly master His craft, he must truly master himself, the dynamics of his humanity as against the logic of reality; this fact makes the creative process as draining as it is exciting, giving him the mental and emotional platform to voyage into his own psyche(soul) —exhuming the unsearchable layers of his being beyond what meets the eyes.

Hence, my preoccupation is to speak through my experiences of the world, in multiple dimensions, both physically, emotionally and transcendentally. This gives my art a surreal, metaphorical ambience— inviting my audience into a trance like lens of viewing the world

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Growing up, my dad would take us to the farm; farming was my dad’s longest standing side hustle as a means of making extra food supplies available for his family of nine, besides his job with the Nigerian government. My farming experience drew me closer to nature hence it’s inclusion in my paintings. The raw, unpredictable, untamed, chaotic yet fascinating spectrum of nature. her beautiful stories, subtle lessons and encoded messages help us appreciate our world more. Farming did not only school me in survival and resilience but in life; how that seeds must be sown and nurtured, reminiscent of the determination and will power it takes to journey through the vineyard of life.
Furthermore, another important experience the fueled my drive for creative excellence was the need to be heard as a man of very few words. Also realizing the dynamics of my creative voice begging for expression

I had broken off from active art practice for some years to do other things due to the harrowing Arts ecosystem in the city(Calabar) where I was resident as at that time. It was not very encouraging as art was grossly underappreciated. I even took a teaching job as an art teacher in primary schools for a few months just to make ends meet; but I discovered that my true passions lie in being in active studio practice.
My ideas haunted me like a bad dream, I had to retract my steps from the paths of survivalism into the bleak paths of creative storytelling. The life of an artist can be really tough when one has to navigate it’s path without any other source of income, but it was a sacrifice I had to make to give ventilation to my mind.
I moved back to Abuja where I grew up and started honing my craft through the woods of uncertainty, depression and the will to be heard.
Looking back in hind sight, I’m glad I took that plunge

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Painting is what helps me escape from the uncertainties of life’s journey. More like a personal emotional and psychological therapy. It is the one venture that helps me breathe, giving voice to my silent emotions; my mission is also to connect with people who vacillate through seasons of self doubt, self discovery and growth. Like the words of prolific Nigerian Literary giant Professor Chinua Achebe affirms ” art is man’s constant attempt at creating a different order of reality than what’s given him”; my creative venture is not merely a representation of reality but an escape from it. My rendition may be real and representational extrinsically, but they’re intrinsically coded and metaphorical

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eneji_peter/
• Facebook: Peter Art Eneji